Real World

THE MAIL

NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED
February 16, 1985

In the Editors of the Crimson:

The main argument use by the proponents of the random lottery system is that the Hoses should represent a "microcosm" of Harvard which in turn is supposed to be a microcosm of our diverse "real world" I would like to argue that in fact the current system results in a better representation of the real world than the proposed random system.

People have argued that the Houses breed stereotypes (i.e. pocks, preps, wonks, minorities gay at which are so preponderous in the House that they are totally unrepresentative of the College population. However the real would is till of these stcrcotspes. My home the San Francisco Bay area is a prime example. As is well known we have a considerable gay community in San Francisco. They seem to be very happy there. Should the government force them to randomly scatter around the country, say to the South and the Mideast (commonly referred to as the Midwest) denying them their "mutual support groups." I should hope not Gays like Harvard students, should be allowed to choose where and with whom they want to live. After all, we are all adults.

The California analogy can be further expanded. We have many rocks (you can find them on the beaches and on the tennis courts) and a wide variety of minorities throughout the state. However, we are lacking in preps and, it can be argued, in intellectuals. Maybe we could arrange a swap where we could send minorities to the Midwest gays to the South and valley girls to New England in exchange for some preps, intellectuals and an occasional Southern uhra-conservative fanatic. This way we would have a nice random mix of people throughout the country Think of how much we could learn from each other.

Not only is Harvard demographically representative of the real world, but it is also structurally so of the Houses are very modern and some are more traditional, just as are deterrent regions in the U.S. Also, the River Houses can be seen to represent areas, like California, which are near the coast, while the Quard represents zones in the U.S. where. I hear it takes hours to get to the nearest beach.

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In any event, and with all seriousness, every House (with Quard renovations hopefully coming soon), like any city or state in the U.S. has something for everyone. They have a certain character and reputation. All of these things allow people at the real world and students here at Harvard in decide where they want to live. They should be allowed to make this choice. Andrew Popelt '87